FlytrapCare Carnivorous Plant Forums

Anyone have experience with initiating heliamphora from trap material, I tried once with some flower stem but no good, any knowledge would be appreciated

thank you

I have gotten H. minor to take from traps, and H. nutans. However even though they are very sturdy once in TC, I am constantly fighting a mystery infection. I succeeded in getting only one pitcher of H.minor to take sans infection. Out of 20-30 plated pitchers. In my experience heliamphora seems to have thick cell walls. There is a very fine line between sterile and melting. I believe it to be fungal, and originating inside the pitchers. Could be something going on with my plants, or a symbiote of some form. PMM keeps it "in check" for a month or so before they need replated.

I'm sure someone else here will chime in with much more experience.

RadRiverOtter wrote:I have gotten H. minor to take from traps, and H. nutans. However even though they are very sturdy once in TC, I am constantly fighting a mystery infection. I succeeded in getting only one pitcher of H.minor to take sans infection. Out of 20-30 plated pitchers. In my experience heliamphora seems to have thick cell walls. There is a very fine line between sterile and melting. I believe it to be fungal, and originating inside the pitchers. Could be something going on with my plants, or a symbiote of some form. PMM keeps it "in check" for a month or so before they need replated.

I'm sure someone else here will chime in with much more experience.

Very interesting! Did the pitchers grow in-vitro from the white tissue near the rhizome?

You don't hear of successful heli TC explants every day!

Nepenthes0260 wrote: ↑Tue Jul 26, 2022 6:21 pm

RadRiverOtter wrote:I have gotten H. minor to take from traps, and H. nutans. However even though they are very sturdy once in TC, I am constantly fighting a mystery infection. I succeeded in getting only one pitcher of H.minor to take sans infection. Out of 20-30 plated pitchers. In my experience heliamphora seems to have thick cell walls. There is a very fine line between sterile and melting. I believe it to be fungal, and originating inside the pitchers. Could be something going on with my plants, or a symbiote of some form. PMM keeps it "in check" for a month or so before they need replated.

I'm sure someone else here will chime in with much more experience.

Very interesting! Did the pitchers grow in-vitro from the white tissue near the rhizome?

With H.minor the growth developed similar to drosera, with lots of tiny pitchers radiating from the base eventually forming a mass. H.nutans formed longer pitchers, almost the same size as the explant. In a similar formation as the mother. I plated the pitchers in a bunch of different positions, none of the explants that I laid down flat on the medium took. So my guess is that it will only grow from the base of the pitcher.

Not sure if it's relevant, but contrary to the information I've read, I excised the explants with a scalpel rather than pulling them off of the plant. Then immediately rinsed with a mild antioxidant solution.

I think I might have another go at it, any tips for sterilization and PGRs?

RadRiverOtter wrote:

Nepenthes0260 wrote: ↑Tue Jul 26, 2022 6:21 pm

RadRiverOtter wrote:I have gotten H. minor to take from traps, and H. nutans. However even though they are very sturdy once in TC, I am constantly fighting a mystery infection. I succeeded in getting only one pitcher of H.minor to take sans infection. Out of 20-30 plated pitchers. In my experience heliamphora seems to have thick cell walls. There is a very fine line between sterile and melting. I believe it to be fungal, and originating inside the pitchers. Could be something going on with my plants, or a symbiote of some form. PMM keeps it "in check" for a month or so before they need replated.

I'm sure someone else here will chime in with much more experience.

Very interesting! Did the pitchers grow in-vitro from the white tissue near the rhizome?

With H.minor the growth developed similar to drosera, with lots of tiny pitchers radiating from the base eventually forming a mass. H.nutans formed longer pitchers, almost the same size as the explant. In a similar formation as the mother. I plated the pitchers in a bunch of different positions, none of the explants that I laid down flat on the medium took. So my guess is that it will only grow from the base of the pitcher.

Not sure if it's relevant, but contrary to the information I've read, I excised the explants with a scalpel rather than pulling them off of the plant. Then immediately rinsed with a mild antioxidant solution.

Sorry I just saw this! Very interesting stuff, and thank you for the information! I might have to give heli TC another shot sometime in the near future.

RadRiverOtter wrote: ↑Tue Jul 26, 2022 10:48 am I believe it to be fungal, and originating inside the pitchers. Could be something going on with my plants, or a symbiote of some form. PMM keeps it "in check" for a month or so before they need replated.

Probably an endophyte, as you note- a fungus (or other organism) that lives inside the plant. Many plants have these, and they seem particularly common in insectivorous plants.

Really not much to do about them, except start from seed. If you can identify the organism and use an appropriate systemic fungicide prior to harvesting explants (sometimes applying it repeatedly), or add it to the medium, endophytes can be combated successfully on occasion.

PPM is not systemic.